Funeral home plan draws neighborhood opposition

West Boynton — Heritage Farms residents worry that allowing a funeral home next to a new cemetery could lead to the death of their rural lifestyle.

Palm Beach County commissioners today will decide whether to approve a zoning change needed to open a funeral home on 5 acres at the northwest corner of U.S. 441 and Hypoluxo Road.

On Wednesday, Heritage Farms residents held a mock funeral to protest allowing commercial development to move so close to their multiple-acre homesites, plant nurseries and horse barns.

Dressed in black, about eight "mourners" followed a golf cart bearing a fake coffin in front of the proposed funeral home. A sign above the coffin said "RIP Heritage Farms."

Changing the agricultural zoning on the property could allow development to spread beyond what was once supposed to be the dividing line between rural and suburban Palm Beach County, resident Richard Moyroud said.

"We need to have some sort of buffer," Moyroud said. "A rezoning is the beginning of the downfall."

Funeral home backers counter that it would be a natural fit next to the new South Florida VA National Cemetery west of Boynton Beach. The funeral home would move into an 8,300-square-foot former farm credit union building. The county already agreed to change the long-term land use designation for the property, which set the stage for the zoning change.

That initial change led to a legal challenge that resulted in a settlement limiting what kind of commercial development could move to the property. If the zoning change is approved, the property can only be used for an office or funeral home and the size of the existing building cannot be increased, said Ron Sullivan, a senior planner for the county.

"It's the same building, same driveway," Sullivan said.

Representatives for the proposed Boynton National Chapel could not be reached for comment Wednesday despite several attempts by phone.

The Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations met with the funeral home planners and issued a letter saying the group has "no objection," citing the requirement to keep the "footprint" of the existing building.

But Heritage Farms residents worry that other nearby property owners will use zoning changes for the funeral home as a precedent for more commercial development.

"We just don't think it belongs," said resident Hellen Hoffman, who also raised concerns about the funeral home's proximity to the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.